Building wall



Nov. 19, 1935. s u s 2,021,133

, Filed April 11, 1935 T 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 19, 1935'. 1.. s. MUNSQN BUILDING WALL Filed April-ll. 195s Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES BUILDING WALL Luther S. Munson, West River-dale, Md., assignor to Munlock Engineering Company, Washington,

D. 0., a corporation Application April 11, 1933, Serial No. 665,578

6 Claims.

In the present invention I provide a building wall and tile or block therefor, designed as an improvement over my prior patents in this art, especially Reissue Patent No. 17,291, reissued May 7th, 1929.

With the rising cost of building materials, es-

' pecially masonry walls, the savings in materials as well as labor become of increasing importance. In addition, the regulatory building codes set up many requirements for the construction of walls. In this art therefore, consideration must be given to the cost of manufacturing the building mate-' rials, the labor necessary for the erection of the wall and the requirements of the building codes. In my invention herein shown and described, I employ in the wall a minimum amount of materials and so construct the wall units topermit the erection of the wall in a minimum period of time; by reason of the pre-formed character of the tiles or blocks, erection of the wall by workmen unskilled in the art is entirely feasible.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a wall which is not entirely dependent on the mortar bond for lateral stability and which will not fail. under loads and conditions incident to the buildings occupancy, because of the bonded and almost monolithic character of the wall; to provide a wall which will resist moisture penetration, in that capillary action through the wall is impossible; and to provide a wall of inherent stability, incapable of premature collapse under fire or exposure to storm conditions, and capable of discharging the functions of support and heat insulation to prevent undue fire loss, thereby complying with all the requirements of the building codes.

A further object of the invention is to provide building blocks designed to permit use thereof,

especially in miniature, as toy building blocks for the erection of toy houses, garages, etc.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description'of the present preferred form of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. l is a detail fragmentary, perspective View of a wall constructed in accordance with the present invention, portions thereof being broken away todisclose details of the wall;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of a. wall constructed in accordance with the present invention and illustrating to advantage the manner of arranging the foundation tile elements with an adapted block interposed therebetween, and the wall superstructure tile elements;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of superstructure tile elements of the present invention, with an adapted block associated therewith; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a tile element constructed in accordance with the present invention. I

In making a wall in accordance with the teaching of the present invention, I prefer to employ tile elements 5 as standard units in the construction of the foundation or base of the wall, and standard units 6 composed of tile elements in 10 the wall superstructure, said foundation tile elements and superstructure elements being connected at the corners and around door and window frames, by adapter blocks, generally designated T. It will be noted that the tile elements 1' 5 are identical in construction to the tile elements 6, the former being larger for use in a twelve-inch'wall and the latter being adapted for use in an eight-inch wall. Each of the elements 5 and 6, as shown to advantage in Fig. i, 20 consists of a rectangular body, one face of which is provided with a hollw rib or protrusion 8, while. the opposite face is provided with a groove or recess 9 which extends in parallel relation to the protrusion. Each of the tile elements 6 is provided with an opening III on each side of the protrusion or rib 8, while each of the tile elements 5, as shown to advantage in Fig. 2, is provided with two openings H, on each side of its protrusion or rib 8. Each of the openings lllare 30 equal to one-quarter inch of commercial insulation to conform to regulatory building codes. It will benoted that each of the ribs or protrusions B has the opposite sides canted or converged toward the base thereof, as indicated at 35 I2, to provide a finger grip forconvenience in laying of the tiles, as shown to advantage in Fig. 2, and likewise toprovide grooves which form habitats for mortar or other plastic material l3. The apex of each protrusion or rib has the corners thereof bevelled, as indicated at M, to complement the contour of the grooves or recesses 9 of the tiles. Manifestly in the manufacture of tiles irregularities in the surfaces appear, so as to prevent a tight fit between adja 45 cent tile elements. However, by bevelling the apices of the protrusions or ribs, an accurate fit between superposed tiles is assured and the wall tiles are thus self-aligned. In laying the tiles there is a complete absence of mortar between the protrusionsor ribs 8 and their complemental recesses.

It will be noted that the opposite faces of the tiles 5 and 6 and block 1 are grooved, as indicated at l5, these grooves being preferably dovetail in 2 v I 2,021, shape to key in the plastic material l3 interposed in the horizontal spaces between the tiles 5 and 6 on the opposite sides of the protrusions or ribs 8. The grooving of the tiles and b1ocks,in addition to the canting of the sides of the protrusions 8, prevents displacement or disintegration of the mortar or plastic material 13.

In building up a wall in accordance with the present invention, the tiles 5 are employed in the foundation of the wall for as many courses as is deemed essential to support the load to be imposed thereon under varying conditions. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the tiles 5 will be built up in staggered relation and when so arranged, prevent the penetration of moisture therethrough and likewise preventflcapillary action in that the line of plastic material is interrupted by the protrusions or ribs 8, which enter the complemental recesses in the adjacent or contiguous tiles or blocks, To finish off the corners it is necessary-to'use adapter blocks, as I have indicated at I, and also finishing blocks or bricks l6. Upon reference to Fig; 1 of the drawings, it will be noted that one of the standard unit tiles 5 has the'protrusion or rib thencof projected into a recess in the bottom of a superposed adapter block 7. The adapter block projects over beyond the end of the tile 5 in order that a portion of the recess of the adapter block I is unoccupied and may befilled in with plastic material. At the end of the adapter block, the brick i6 is mounted to finish the cor-. her. It will be noted that in Fig. 1 for the purpose of carrying out the architectural plan usually employed in buildings constructed of brick, I have shown fiveccourses simulating stretcher brick on the outside and a superimposed course simulating. header bricks' Obviously, this is unnecessary-in the present invention in that standard units may be used throughout the entire wall except in the comers of the latter and around window frames, but I prefer to show the feasibility of using the tiles oi the present invention in this manner if and when 1 desired. Asis apparent, the standard units used as headers are formed by cutting standard units half. y use of the present block it becomes apparent thatwhen the standad units are built up; in the wall, as set out herein, moisture cannot flnd its way therethrough becausecapillary action which may take place through the mortaror other plastic material used, is interrupted by the protrussions or ribs 8. At the comers where the 'adapter blocks 1 and bricks iii are used, it is a parent that capillary action is likewise ln'-'= te rrupted because of the portionof the standard 'units'dire'ctly in the path of travel of mortar between the ada'pterblocks. By employing the twelve-inch blocks in the foundation of the wall, a ledge I1 is provided, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, adapted for the reception-of beams, etc.- It is to be'understood that with the'present block furring of the wall use of face bricks, back-up'walls', etc.,' are entirely'eliminated. The wall is"complete in itself and satisfies all requirements for insulation and water-proofing, with-- proper regard for sanitation. 'I'he peculiar s'olute accuracy in the laying of thetiles, and

prevents passage of moisture through the wall between the standard units. 5

Although I have herein described the present. preferred form of myfinvention, various changesmay be made therein, within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A block for building walls consisting of a. rectangular body equipped with a rib on one face thereof, the sides of said rib being canted and the comers thereof bevelled, the opposite face of said block having a recess therein parallel to 15- said 'rib of a shape complementing the apex of the latter.

2. A building wall composed of standard tile elements, each of which is relatively flat and horizontally arranged in superposed relation, 20

, each of the elements of one course being equipped with a rib projecting from one of the faces thereof, having its sides canted and the comers thereof bevelled, each element of the superposed contiguous course having a recess formed 25 in one of the faces thereof which complements the apices of the ribs of thesubjacent course.

3. A building wall composed of a single tier of tile elements arranged in superimposed'relation, said tile elements each having an upwardly 30 extending projection on the upper surface and a complementary recess in the lower surface, said projection extending into the recess superadjacent tile and contacting the wall of the recess, whereby portions oi the joints of con- 35 tiguous tiles are rendered mortarless and incapable of capillary attraction.

4. A building wall composed of tile elements arranged in superimposed relation, said tile elements'each having an outwardly extending 'pro- 40 jection on one face and a complementary recess on the opposite face, said projection extending into the recess of the adjacent tile and contacting the wall thereof, wherebya portion of each joint is rendered mortarless and incapable of 45.

capillary attraction.

5. A building wall composed of tile elements each having longitudinal voids therein and each having a central longitudinal projection on one face and a longitudinal recess in the opposite face 50' channelled to provide a groove opposite the base ofsthe protrusion for the reception of the outer portion of the protrusion of an adjacent block,

whereby spaces areprovided between the blocks on opposite sides of the protrusion, and mortar in said spaces.

' LUTHER S MUNSON. 

